Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/ask-dr.-sue-smoke-is-poison-and-more-on-clean-sand/5009261/
Is it okay to have an area for smokers in the child care facility?No. A recent study (Pediatrics, May 1993) reconfirms that both group care and exposure to tobacco smoke significantly increase the risk of respiratory illness for children. The frequency of ear infections and lower respiratory diseases (bronchiolitis, asthma, pneumonia) nearly doubles in group care. Group settings expose children to a larger pool of germs. Tobacco smoke in the air adds substantially to this risk.
When children breathe smoke, their risk of wheezing more than triples compared with children who do not breathe smoke. Exposure to smoke and being in a group care setting are independent risk factors for respiratory infection. Children who are in group care and are exposed to smoke have a greater risk of disease than those who are only in group care or are only exposed to smoke. Risk is also increased for younger children, larger groups, groups that intermix, and children cared for in crowded conditions.
Smoking is now the leading cause of cancer and the most preventable cause of death in adults in the United States. For adults and children, exposure to smoke both lowers resistance to respiratory ...